Why Seahawks Fans Were Confused by Super Bowl XLIII

When watching the conference championship games, a thought crossed my mind. I realized that there was a possibility that I, and every other Seahawks fan for that matter, would be debating whether or not to watch the Super Bowl.

I dislike the Cards for obvious reasons—they're a division rival that had Seattle's number this year. I hate the Steelers (and always will) because of Super Bowl XL. The officiating was terrible, and I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that the Seahawks probably could have won if it weren't for Ben Roethlisberger's rushing "touchdown" or Darrell Jackson's "offensive pass interference" in the end zone.

So when the Philadelphia Eagles were making a comeback late in the NFC title game, I was bleeding midnight green and silver, because I badly wanted McNabb and the Eagles to shatter Arizona's glass slipper. No dice.

Then came the AFC championship. Of course, I was rooting for the birds again. Joe Flacco and the Ravens posed a threat to the Steelers, and the game looked to be a defense oriented battle. Pittsburgh came out on top as expected.

This was the first postseason in five years that the Seahawks weren't invited, and their 4-12 mark was uninspiring.

Basically there was nothing to get excited about during Seattle's season, so I decided to focus all of my postseason enthusiasm on the Cardinals and Steelers losing. However, when they both made it to the Super Bowl, I got confused.

Did this mean I would root for a 0-0 tie so neither of these franchises that I despise would get to grasp the Lombardi trophy? Last time I checked you can't tie in that game, so I had a decision to make.

For the first two weeks, and even the first five minutes of the game, I decided to boycott the Super Bowl, and not contribute to a championship that I could care less about.

Looking at the possible outcomes, I saw that if Arizona won, Seattle would be the only team in the NFC West without a Super Bowl win. And my hatred for Pittsburgh obviously meant I wouldn't be thrilled to see them win a record six Super Bowls.

But after those difficult five minutes, my inner-sports fan took the driver's seat, and I reluctantly flipped to the game.

I'm sure a lot of my fellow Seahawks fans felt the same way, and when the game was winding down and we all saw one of the best Super Bowls ever, I was still clueless.

I was excited when Larry Fitzgerald scored in the fourth, and my heart rate went way up when Santonio Holmes and the Steelers drove the length of the field for what would become the winning drive.

In the end I realized that being sour was pointless, and if I had gone through with my boycott, I would've missed out on a great game. Hopefully all of the Seahawks fans out there came to this realization as well, despite the initial confusion that was Super Bowl XLIII.